I have noticed that reading books takes a lot of time and many do not have it or choose not to make the effort. Not
everyone needs to read voraciously. I just happen to be one of those people who has a lot of books and I actually
read some of them. I would like to summarize some very excellent books, just in case you don't have time to read
them. I may even stimulate you to get the book that is being reviewed. The book title, author, and review are as follows:
"Needless Casualties of War" by John Paul Jackson
This is an amazing book. If you only read one book on spiritual warfare in your entire life this ought to be it. The contents
of this book will alter your view of God, the enemy, the Heavens, and your authority. Essentially, we run into great error
when we overrun the boundaries of our authority. We were given the injunction to subdue the earth and to rule over it.
We were not given Heaven to rule over. Scripture says that "The Heaven, even the Heavens, are the Lord's; but the
Earth He has given to the children of men." (Psalm 115:16) There are rulers and principalities and powers and spiritual
forces of wickedness in the heavenly places, yet only God has authority over these forces, we do not. When we move
outside the bounds of our jurisdiction, making claims against spiritual forces of darkness, we bring harm to ourselves.
In fact, disease, illness, calamity of any sort, and harm of any kind, can possibly be the result of warring in those areas
that we were not meant to war in. Our battle is not against flesh and blood, it is against these principalities and powers,
yet it is still God's battle not ours. "Only God has power to command his heavenly realms," writes John Paul Jackson. Our
role is to submit to God, to pray fervently, and trust God to do his part. We may have need to repent of the arrogance
and presumption that has us commanding the enemy to do that which only God is to do. We are to humbly pray to God
for removal, not the enemy. Hence, we focus on God and not the enemy. Read this book and get spiritual warfare straight.
"The Ultimate Treasure Hunt" by Kevin Dedmon
Here's another must read book. Kevin Dedmon writes about evangelism in a fresh new way, yet his method appears very similar to that found in Scripture. Kevin trains teams to go on treasure hunts to find treasure. The ultimate treasure is Christ, yet he wants to find people and he sends his followers to seek out the treasure of the lost. Those whom we seek are the treasure and the Christian seeks the treasure on this treasure hunt. Kevin's model is for believers to meet together in prayer, and this prayer time need only last a few minutes. The purpose of this prayer is to listen to God and receive cues. Each person has a piece of paper or a card in which they discern God's heart and write down the cues God gives them. These items are listed in the following categories: location, person's name, person's appearance, person's ailment, and the unusual. If God knows who you are going to meet to bring into the kingdom why can't he drop a few hints about this encounter ahead of time? The treasure hunters then takes their lists and begin the search. God will miraculously lead you to the people who fulfill the items on your list. For example, you may receive from God "frozen food" and "crutches." You discern that you are to go to a supermarket's frozen food section to take a look around. These cues may be associated or they may not be. You might find someone with crutches in the frozen food isle or in one of the other isles. The frozen food hint may have just been what God gave to get you to the supermarket. Once you find your target you let this person know that you are on a treasure hunt and that you believe they are the treasure God wants you to find. You show them your list and ask them to pick out the items that have to do with them. This person will most likely be shocked that your list includes several words that are directly associated to what they are going through at the time. This person will be so moved that God cares so much for them that he would send a search crew to find them. Now that you have this person's attention you can tell them about Jesus and what he did for them, inviting this treasure to come into God's kingdom. I like that version of evangelism. It gives people a reason to believe because something spectacular happened to them. What else can they do but respond favorably?